Heart failure (HF) can be described as a reduced ability of a heart to sufficiently deliver blood to meet bodily needs, affecting over five million people in the United States alone. HF is typically a chronic condition, but can also occur suddenly, affecting the left, right, or both sides of a heart. Common causes of HF include coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, alcoholism, infection, cardiomyopathy, or one or more other conditions leading to a decreased pumping efficiency of the heart.
An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm, or any heart rhythm (e.g., fast, slow, irregular, etc.) that is not a normal heart rhythm. A bradycardia is a condition where the heart beats too slowly (e.g., below 60 beats per minute) to deliver sufficient blood supply to meet bodily needs. In contrast, a tachycardia is a condition where the heart (or a portion of a heart) beats too quickly to delivery sufficient blood supply to meet bodily needs. Other arrhythmias can include, for example, premature, extra, or skipped heart beats, heart defects, atrial or ventricular fibrillation affecting one or more chambers of the heart.
An ambulatory medical devices (AMD), such as an implantable, wearable, or other external medical device, can be configured to monitor, detect, or treat various conditions, such as arrhythmias, HF, or any other condition that a patient might have.